Howzat? The Men’s and Women’s Ashes set for belting series’ on Sky Sports
Ben Stokes pumped up and passionate after his exhilarating innings at The Ashes in 2019
The Ashes, between England and Australia, is one of the oldest and most iconic rivalries not just in cricket but in world sport. This year sees the first time that both the Men’s and Women’s series are being played side by side in the UK, and all the tension of those matches is live on Sky Sports and Now in the UK.
There are 36 days of live cricket in June and July, with the men’s series featuring the 300th Test Match to be shown live on Sky Sports.
After an exciting start on 16 June, Sky Sports cricket’s award-winning team, under the leadership of Bryan Henderson, director of cricket and NFL at Sky Sports, is bringing together the best technology and content, including some new innovations and evolutions of tech that will bring the action on the field even closer to viewers at home.
Speaking to SVG Europe, Henderson says: “What I’m really looking forward to is just a really close series. Some of the series, especially in Australia, haven’t been particularly close in the last few years. I think this is the most anticipated Men’s Ashes since 2005 and the early signs are just that it’s going to be an incredible game and an incredible series; hopefully with England winning on the last day at the Oval!
“The other thing that I’m looking forward to is the fact that the Women’s series is on at the same time. I just think that’s a huge opportunity for women’s cricket to just get some oxygen from the men, and hopefully England will be able to perform well in that series too.
“So hopefully we’ll get two fantastic Men’s and Women’s Ashes, and that then throws more light on The Hundred, which follows in August.”
He goes on: “The biggest challenge for the Ashes is just the sheer scale. We’re on air all day, every day, the series is pretty compact, we’ve got the Women’s Ashes on at the same time and then we lead into The Hundred. It’s nothing we haven’t done before – we’re used to it! – but we need to be prepped incredibly well and that’s why we work hard all winter getting everything ready.”
Sustainable production
Coverage of the two series is being produced using a sustainable remote HDR production workflow. This is significantly reducing Sky Sports’ travel footprint, with travel being one of the biggest emitters in sports production.
Sky’s production of The Ashes will be Albert certified as carbon neutral, and additionally, remote production and Albert certification will apply across the cricket season.
Notes Henderson: “The sustainable remote production is relatively new. We moved to remote production for a couple of years now. All the camera feeds get sent individually back to a gallery at Sky, and the director cuts the shots from there, replays are done from there as well and our graphics are remote. So basically, it just means we’re a much more sustainable production, and we’re BAFTA Albert certified.”
The broadcaster is also putting forward a female-focused OB, which is planned for the Women’s Ashes T20 match on 1 July. A female crew will be producing this event to celebrate the talented women in the industry and showcase their skills. This is in line with the brilliant female talent across the board who work for Sky Sport.
Tech innovations
On the new and evolved technology being used to capture the 2023 Ashes’ series’, Quidich Hyperview player tracking will be captured from floodlight pylons around the ground, and used to track fielder movements for expert analysis. It will also be used to give insight into batter and bowler options based on field placement, and there will be an option to see field placement from the perspective of the batter.
Commenting on the Quidich Hyperview player tracking and tagging, Henderson comments: “[Quidich] offers a couple of things. It’s a live field plot so we can have a close up shot of the batter and then a flying field plot so you know where the fielders are without having to cut to different shots and see the camera panning round, which is really good. Then they can also offer a virtual 3D real time view from the batters helmet to show the field. It can also do things like measure the height of sixes and distances between fielders. It’s been a really good addition.”
Find out more about the Quidich Hyperview player tracking at The Men’s and Women’s Ashes 2023 here
In the Lord’s pavilion and long room during the second men’s Test, remote cameras will be tracking players as they walk out from and back to the dressing room, giving viewers a unique insight into what happens behind the scenes.
Spider Cam will be in place at Lord’s too to give viewers a bird’s-eye perspective of play, and the Buggy Cam and Drone Cam will be available for the director’s use at all test matches. Additionally, there will be iconic drone shots through the Lord’s Pavilion, flown by a military pilot.
Meanwhile, Cric Viz will provide enhanced stats including tracking which side is “in front” during play. AE Live is providing a new suite of fresh on-screen graphics to give viewers all the information needed to keep track of the action. Also, Hawkeye will be on hand, with updated analysis tools.
Henderson adds: “Every year Cric Viz, Hawkeye and Spidercam, they just need to get better and better. So the fact that we’ve for Spidercam on most of the series means that Hawkeye can offer additional analysis off that camera, which is great.”
The Sky Lab Studio presentation area will be positioned next to the comms box, while the Sky Zone will be a further presentation area with the opportunity for net masterclasses from commentators such as Nasser Hussain, Michael Atherton and Isa Guha. Also on presentation, a refreshed Sky Cart will be used on the pitch-side.
Every match of the men’s and women’s Ashes will be shown live and exclusively on Sky Sports and Now in the UK